1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cable winding apparatus, and in particular, it relates to apparatus for guiding the cable so that it is wound in a substantially uniform manner on a drum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The winding of large diameter steel cables on a drum in a substantially uniform manner has been an old problem. Large diameter cables, such as a 5/8 inch cable, are commonly used on winch drums in the mining industry to lift various loads, for example, to retrieve very large diameter cables such as a 4 inch cable, which may weigh several tons.
There have been several attempts, as described in prior art patents, to solve the problem of winding a cable onto a drum.
In the Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 2,660,382, a level winding device for winding a cable onto a drum is described. The device includes a guide head which is moved by an air motor in the direction of the winding of the cable onto the drum. The guide head moves in a direction substantially parallel to the drum along a number of guide rods and is moved along the guide rods by a chain and sprocket wheel combination. A valve admits air to the motor so that the guide head is moved along the rods by the chain. The movement of the guide head is activated by the transverse movement of the cable. However, the device of the Wilson patent is not sufficiently durable for long term usage with large diameter cable.
Dahlberg U.S. Pat. No. 601,827, the Heylman U.S. Pat. No. 708,979, the Shannon U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,203, the Adams et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,242 and the Ikegami et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,801 disclose various mechanisms for winding a rope or wire onto spools or drums. However, none of the winding mechanisms in the immediately above-mentioned patents are capable of winding large diameter steel cables onto drums in a substantially uniform manner.
Other patents, such as the Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 1,763,871, the Biewer U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,846, the Morioka et al. 3,951,355, the Stein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,391 and the Reynolds et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,445 describe mechanisms for winding cable, pipe, rope and wire onto spools or drums wherein the cable, rope, pipe and wire directs the traversing of the guide so that a substantially even wind is obtained. However, due to the characteristics of braided steel cable, the immediately above-mentioned mechanisms would not satisfactorily wind steel cable on a drum or spool.